Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Walter Van Tilburg Clark (August 3, 1909 — November 10, 1971) was an American poet, fiction writer, and educator. Known primarily for his novels, his one volume of stories, and his uncollected short stories, he ranks as one of Nevada's most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century, Life Born in East Orland, Maine, Clark grew up and went to college in Reno, [Nevada, where his father was president of the University of Nevada. In 1933 Clark married Barbara Frances Morse and moved to Cazenovia, New York, where he taught high school English and began his fiction-writing career. Clark's first published novel, The Ox-Bow Incident (1940), was successful and is often considered to be the first modern Western, without the genre usual clichés and formulaic plots. "Biography - Clark, Walter Van Tilburg (1909-1971)", Contemporary Authors (Biography), Thomson Gale, 2004. It is a tale about a lynch mob mistaking three innocent travelers for cattle rustlers. When the travelers are killed, the lynch mob finds that they were wrong. The book examines law and order as well as culpability. It was well-received and gave Clark literary acclaim that was unusual for a writer of Westerns. Clark's short story, "The Portable Phonograph", is also well known. He published two more novels, The City of Trembling Leaves and The Track of the Cat, and a collection of his short stories over the next decade, which were also well-received. His short stories (such as "Hook", "The Wind And The Snow Of Winter", and "The Portable Phonograph") have been anthologized consistently as classic examples of short stories since they first began being published in national magazines during the 1940s.Walter Van Tilburg Clark: The reason for the Nevada author’s sudden silence is still shrouded in mystery by Michael Engelmann|Accessed 03 April 2010 Two Hollywood movies were inspired by Clark's writings, and one of these (The Ox-Bow Incident) received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Although he continued to write prolifically after 1950, Clark published very little. He had several academic positions, serving for a time during the 1950s as a professor of creative writing at the University of Montana in Missoula, where he was noted by his students for his teaching skills and for his eccentric clothing which consisted of a blue turtleneck shirt, maroon corduroy jacket, grey slacks and blue socks which never varied throughout the term. He returned later to Reno to serve as the writer-in-residence of the university from 1962 until his death (in Virginia City, Nevada) on November 10, 1971. He died almost two years to the day after his wife, and both died of cancer, as his biographer Jackson J. Benson noted in his biography of Clark, The Ox-Bow Man. Recognition Clark was chosen along with Robert Laxalt to be the first writer inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame when it was established during 1988 by the Friends of the University of Nevada Libraries.Nevada Writers Hall of Fame In popular culture In 1943 The Ox-Bow Incident was adapted into a movie featuring Henry Fonda. Publications Poetry *''Christmas Comes to Hialsen'' (1930) * "Dawn, Washoe Valley; Big Dusk; Pyramid Lake" (1932) *''Ten Women in Gale's House: And Shorter Poems'' (1932) * "To a Friend with New Shoes" (1934) Novels * The Ox-Bow Incident]]. New York: Random House, 1940. * The City of Trembling Leaves. New York: Random House, 1945 ** published in UK as Tim Hazard. London: William Kimber, 1951. * The Track of the Cat: A novel. New York: Random House, 1949. Short fiction * The Watchful Gods and Other Stories, Random House (New York, NY), 1950. (contains "Hook," "The Wind and the Snow of Winter," "The Rapids," "The Anonymous," "The Buck in the Hills," "Why Don't You Look Where You're Going?," "The Indian Well," "The Fish Who Could Close His Eyes," "The Portable Phonograph," and "The Watchful Gods"). Reprinted, University of Nevada Press (Reno, NV), 2004. With a "Foreword" by Ann Ronald. Non-fiction *(Author of foreword) Robert Cole Caples: A Retrospective Exhibition, 1927-63 (catalog), NV, 1964. *(Editor) The Journals of Alfred Doten, 1849-1903, three volumes, University of Nevada Press (Reno, NV), 1973. * Walter Van Tilburg Clark: Critiques, edited by Charlton Laird; University of Nevada Press (Reno, NV), 1983. In this volume, some of Clark's works were collected and grouped with essays about Clark and his writings Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Nevada Writers Hall of Fame.Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Nevada Writers Hall of Fame 1988, Friends of the University Library, University of Nevada. Web, June 4, 2014. See also * List of U.S. poets References *''Contemporary Literary Criticism'', Volume 28, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1984. *Benson, Jackson J., The Ox-Bow Man: A Biography of Walter Van Tilburg Clark, University of Nevada Press (Reno, NV), 2004. *''Dictionary of Literary Biography'', Volume 9: "American Novelists, 1910-1945", Gale (Detroit, MI), 1981. *Lee, L. L., Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Boise State College (Boise, ID), 1973. *Lindroth, James R., Clark's The Ox-Bow Incident: A Critical Commentary, Monarch Press (New York, NY), 1966. *Stegner, Wallace, One Way to Spell Man, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1982, pp. 124-35. *''Twentieth-Century Western Writers'', St. James Press (Chicago, IL), 1991. *Westbrook, Max, Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Twayne (New York, NY), 1969. Notes External links ;Poems *"Kindred": Two poems in Poetry] ("Strength of Autumn's End," "Of the Broken Brotherhood") ;About *Walter Van Tilburg Clar in the Encyclopædia Britannica *Walter Van Tilburg Clark at the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame *Walter Van Tilburg Clark at the Online Nevada Encyclopedia *Walter Van Tilburg Clark at NNDB *Walter Van Tilburg Clark Biography at Cliffs Notes *"Remembering Walter Van Tilburg Clark: The Ox-Bow Man at SF State" ;Etc *A Guide to the Papers of Walter Van Tilburg Clark, University of Nevada Category:American novelists Category:American short story writers Category:Western (genre) writers Category:Writers from Maine Category:Writers from Nevada Category:University of Nevada, Reno Category:University of Nevada, Reno faculty Category:1909 births Category:1971 deaths Category:People from Hancock County, Maine Category:People from Reno, Nevada Category:20th-century poets Category:American poets Category:Poets